Michael McIntyre

I felt very sorry for him it must have been a very frightening experience to be forced out of the car - he would have wondered what was coming next- a gun or a knife perhaps. Very glad he's safe.

Must have been a very frightening experience for him and his little boy

What a terrible thing to happen but can't help wondering why, when the thug was hitting the windscreen with a hammer he didn't lock the doors?

A horrible frightening experience and yes, I noticed the parking!! but perhaps there is a rational reason?

I wonder if these thugs hijacking cars target fancy expensive cars rather than run of the mill smaller or older ones?

Made me wonder. If I ever won the Lottery I'd be frightened that an excessive show of wealth would make me stand out and become a target for thieves. I'd never be one to flaunt it!

McIntyre's car did denote wealth but it's a model commonly seen on our roads. I am pleased no one was injured and I am sure the incident was very frightening, but others being attacked like this don't make news headlines. I do know people who drive around with their doors locked. There seemed to be a spate of snatch and grab robbery of handbags and valuables from cars a while ago, taken by thieves who opened the car doors when people stopped at junctions or traffic lights.

Although I drive a small car which is now several years old the first thing I do when I get in is to lock the doors - have done for several years.

As for where McIntyre was parked - isn't that how most parents picking up children park, at least it is in my experience.

Was it parked, or was it where it was halted by the attack starting?

I would rarely, if ever lock my car when driving because the difficulty of getting out, or being got out of my car if I had an accident. people have died because they had locked their car doors. It is a matter of seconds to lock the car if you think you may be in any danger.

I don’t lock the car doors for the reasons MOnica has stated, but I do loop my handbag handle over the gear stick and put it in the passenger footwell as advised by a policeman friend many years ago. If anyone leans in to snatch it, a hand on the gear stick will hold the bag fast. Apparently. Luckily this hasn’t been put to the test. He also said never to wind the window down more than a couple of inches to talk to a stranger. A hammer through the window though is a different matter entirely and must have been quite terrifying.

A lot of cars lock automatically as you drive off. I had assumed that he had been forced to the side of the road, surrounded by thugs who were attempting to break the windows and so had got out to let them have whatever they wanted rather than risk his son being injured.

Looping a handbag handle over the gearstick seems odd advice to me, especially from a policeman. Anything that impedes driving would surely be a hazard?

My bags all have long shoulder handles so it doesn’t impede at all. Perhaps some Queen type bags with some gear sticks may not work. Down to common sense I suppose. The idea is that an opportunist bag snatcher can’t snatch.

Poor Michael McIntyre and his son. I'm not sure if I'd wear a very expensive watch, even if I had one, it could make one a target, that along with the car. Of course it shouldn't be like this but it seems we are living in violent times. Also on the same day somewhere in London, a young woman was punched when she tried to resist having her handbag and phone snatched and is now in a serious condition in hospital.

He wasn't parked very well! My DH got a ticket for parking on the zebra crossing zig-zags to nip into the takeaway! And are car windows of toughened glass so they don't shatter easily in an accident?

His children weren't in the car at the time. He was parked waiting to pick them up. I've no clue why he got out, I definitely wouldn't have got out of a safe (ish) environment to a gang of thugs with a hammer! I like to think I'd have posted the expensive watch through through a gap in window but none of us will know how we'd react unless something like this happens to us!
When they spoke on the news about the woman who was seriously hurt in another attack after Micheal McIntyre it was really as an after thought I felt.
Cressida Dick claimed these sort of attacks were on the decrease.... I'm sure she must have evidence of that of but it seems these attacks are regularly being reported on the news. It's frightening to think you can be walking along the road speaking on your phone for example, and some entitled eejit can mount the pavement on his/her moped and snatch it! Terrible state of affairs!!

The version I read was he was in the car with one of his sons in the back seat whilst his wife was inside the school collecting the other one. My guess he got out of the car in case the glass broke and injured his son.

I got my info from the news, but reports certainly can get things wrong. The camera showed him alone initially outside his car on the phone, the another shot after cuddling one of his boys. BBC news.

I saw rather disturbing video on Good Morning Britain of what appeared to be him and his son standing by the side of the car as they were robbed. Perhaps he & his son got out of the car assuming that’s what the thieves wanted, the car?
Makes it even more awful to do it in front of a child.

I went & read a different report, his son WAS in the car. That's terrifying!!! Bloody awful human beings, doing that to ANYONE , but to scare a child is unforgivable!!

The on line photos from the Sun (I only read the best) indicate that he climbed out of the passenger side to escape when the drivers side window was broken and his son got out too, but they were cut off by one of the robbers who was carrying a knife. He tried to use his phone but dropped it and handed over his watch. They then sped off on motor bikes.